Paul
Watson
Blames
Japanese
and
Shark
Mafia
For
His
Troubles
With
Costa
Rica
Paul
Watson,
the
head
of
the
Sea
Shepherd
Conservation
Society
currently
awaiting
extradition
to
Costa
Rica
in
Germany,
told
Voice
of
Russia
in
an
exclusive
interview,
that
the
Japanese
and
the
"shark
mafia"
are
behind
his
arrest.

"It
is
very
inconvenient
and
it
doesn’t
make
any
sense,
because
Costa
Rica
issued
a
warrant
demand
for
my
extradition",
Watson
said
of
his
being
sidelined
in
Germany
and
not
being
able
to
participate
in
Sea
Shepherd
activities.

Watson
says
his
arrest
in
Germany
came
conveniently
after
Costa
Rica's
president
with
the
Japanese
prime
minister
and
just
recently
as
two
weeks
ago,
Japan
gave
Costa
Rica
US$9
million
dollars
for
a
national
park.

The
Sea
Shepherd
head
says
his
being
picked
up
in
Germany
is
still
a
mystery
to
him,
especially
because
"Germany
has
no
extradition
treaty
with
Costa
Rica".

If
Germany
does
not
decide
to
extradite,
Watson
is
fee.
But
it
it
does,
his
only
recourse
would
then
be
to
appeal
the
decision
to
the
European
Court.

Watson
also
said
that
as
it
was
said
in
the
film
"Sharkwater",
the
shark
mafia
has
a
lot
of
influence
over
the
Costa
Rican
government,
as
his
society's
efforts
would
put
a
dent
into
the
more
than
30
tons
of
shark
fins
exported
last
year
alone.
"And
that's
a
lot
of
money",
Watson
told
the
interviewer.

"The
Shark
Fin
mafia
– as
we
call
them
–
had
a
$25,000
reward
on
my
head
ten
years
ago,
which
is
probably
bigger
now.
And
I am
very
concerned
about
that.

"I
don’t
think
they
(Costa
Rica)
want
a
trial.
I
think
they
want
an
execution",
said
Watson
in
reference
to
his
meeting
with
Costa
Rican
officials
since
his
arrest.
"Costa
Rica's
Foreign
Minister
has
said:
you
don’t
have
to
worry,
we
don’t
have
any
corruption
in
our
country,
prisons
are
very
safe
and
the
proof
for
that
is
we
have
two
foreign
presidents
in
the
prisons,
who
everybody
hated,
and
they’re
safe.”

The
case
of
Watson
goes
back
to
10
year
ago.
The
version
told
by
Watson
on
is
"it
was
something
that
happened
ten
years
ago
where
nobody
was
injured,
no
property
was
damaged,
and
all
we
did
is
stopped
the
illegal
shark
fin
operation
in
Guatemala’s
waters
at
the
request
of
the
Guatemalan
government".

“Look,
this
is
very
simple
to
resolve.
Simply
drop
the
extradition
charge
and
set
a
trial
day.
You
set
a
trial
day,
I’ll
come
to
Costa
Rica
with
my
film
and
my
witnesses,
and
we’ll
come
to
court.
We
have
the
evidence
for
the
case
and
we’re
not
concerned
about
that.
But
when
you
extradite
me,
you
bring
me
there
in
handcuffs;
you
can
hold
me
for
a
year
in
your
prison
until
you
have
a
trial.
And
what
is a
better
place
to
collect
their
reward
and
then
kill
me
in
prison?”,
says
Watson
is
what
he
pitched
Costa
Rica's
Foreign
Minister.